


Maedhros the Red-Haired Elfling

by books2thesky



Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Christmas Carols, Early Work, Filk, Fluff, Found Family, Gen, Implied Bullying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-12-28
Updated: 2003-12-28
Packaged: 2017-12-04 21:02:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/715057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/books2thesky/pseuds/books2thesky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A bit of cute holiday fluff, with a dash of seriousness. The young Half-Elven twins are being teased, and Maglor cheers them up with a song.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Maedhros the Red-Haired Elfling

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Christmas 2003, reposted from ff.n (with slight edits) on 03/10/2013.

"Maglor!"

"Maglooor!!"

The sound of running footsteps echoed down the hall, accompanied by the shouting of two small voices. Maglor put down the book he was reading and turned to the door of his room. A moment later, two dark-haired children burst in and threw themselves at him, landing on his chest and lap.

"Oof!" he grunted as the breath was knocked out of him. The children scrambled over and off him, arranging themselves one on either side so that the three of them fit comfortable in the big armchair.

Maglor studied the twin boys who had just assailed him. They were still wearing their heavy winter cloaks, and their bare hands were icy from the cold outside, where they had gone to play. However, their expressions were tearfully angry, and Maglor slipped an arm around each boy.

"What happened?" he asked gently.

"The others laughed at us when we tried to play with them!" cried Elros, stiff with hurt indignation.

"They said we were clumsy and slow and practic'ly blind 'cause we're just human!" added Elrond, his voice shaking with the effort of holding back tears.

"We're NOT human!" Elros broke in. "We're only HALF!"

Maglor sighed softly as he hugged the twins tighter. To him, they looked like any ordinary pair of elflings, but their rounded ears and the tracks they left on snow or grass brought home the fact that they were, for all practical purposes, human.

"Don't worry," he said comfortingly. "You're not clumsy or slow, and I'm sure the other young ones will stop teasing you once they see that. In fact," he added as a memory stirred, "I _know_ they will, because the same thing happened to my brother Maedhros."

" _Maedhros_?" chorused the twins, their eyes wide and disbelieving. Maedhros was tall and scary and looked angry all the time…they couldn't imagine anyone teasing _him_.

Maglor nodded. "Yes, Maedhros. When he was just a little elfling, only a bit bigger than you two."

"What happened?"

"Tell us more!"

Maglor tried to hide a grin. It always worked…the promise of a story distracted Elros and Elrond from _anything_.

"It all happened before I was born, but Maedhros told me the story."

Inspiration suddenly struck.

"And," he added, "I've made it into a song!"

"Ooh!"

The twins wriggled closer, faces bright and attentive in anticipation of one of Maglor's songs.

Maglor took a breath and began singing, words and music flowing effortlessly from his mouth and forming a simple, cheerful little tune to banish any lingering hurt from the young boys' minds.

"Maedhros the red-haired elfling  
Had a shocking shade of hair.  
Everyone who had seen it  
Said that it was very rare."

"And that's why they teased him?" interrupted Elros.

"But Maedhros' hair is _nice_!" Elrond said.

"Well, not everybody thought so. Anyway, I'm getting to that part:

All of the other elflings  
Used to laugh and call him names--"

"Like Fox-Head."

All three occupants of the armchair started. Their heads whipped round to stare at the tall elf leaning against one side of the open doorway.

"I heard the singing," Maedhros said, his usual cool expression warmed by a faint smile.

"Come in!" urged Maglor, waving his brother to a nearby chair.

Elrond and Elros shrank a little closer to Maglor as Maedhros sat down, but their wariness of him was eased by his good mood, and they dared to offer him a pair of small smiles. To Maglor's delight, this made the half-hidden amusement and affection in his brother's eyes deepen. The twins really had something special about them, and it seemed that even Maedhros had begun to warm to their sweetness.

Maglor's musings were interrupted by the said twins, who were tugging at his arms and asking plaintively for him to continue the song. He cleared his throat theatrically.

"Ahem…where was I? Oh yes:

All of the other elflings  
Used to laugh and call him names.  
They never let poor Maedhros  
Join in any of their games.

Now," Maglor interrupted himself, "even as an elfling, it was clear that Maedhros was going to become a great, strong warrior. His skills were very impressive for one so young, which explains what happened next:

Then one day a Vala came:  
Tulkas grinned and said,  
'Maedhros with your hair so bright,  
Hunt with me in Silpion's light!'"

"Silpion is another name for the silver tree, Telperion, right?" Elrond put in, proud of his knowledge.

Elros was more concerned with the latest development in the story. "You mean an actual Vala was that impressed with Maedhros?" he cried, staring up at Maglor, then shooting a sideways glance at Maedhros with eyes wide in awe.

Maglor shared an amused smile with this brother as he replied,

"Yes, that's right. It's very rare that that happens, so of course everyone was very happy and proud of Maedhros.

Then how the elflings loved him,  
As they shouted out with glee,  
'Maedhros the red-haired elfling,  
You'll go down in history!'"

"Yaay!" cheered Elros and Elrond, clapping their hands appreciatively at the story's happy ending.

"They were right, too," murmured Maedhros to his brother, raising an eyebrow sardonically. "I _did_ go down in history."

He smirked. "Although perhaps for a different reason than they expected."

Maglor snorted softly in amusement, shaking his head at Maedhros' dark sense of humor. Turning back to his young charges, he asked,

"Well, do you want to see if you can remember the whole song?"

The twins nodded enthusiastically. Together, they started singing the beginning of the new song. Their clear, high voices-occasionally joined by Maglor's lower, smoother tones as he helped them with a word they'd forgotten-echoed through the halls of their home, bringing warmth and affection to even the most wintry of hearts.


End file.
